Stage 1
Everest Basecamp
Up to 10 staff
Build the foundation: a lead generation system, a sales process that closes, and the Nine Keys basics in place.
$150 per month, locked for life, closes at 100 firms
Explore BasecampFor founders of IT services and SI firms, 1 to 200 staff
Your firm should not run on you.
You compete with Accenture and Deloitte every week. Loading Growth helps you scale on margin, not headcount, and build a firm that is worth more because it depends less on you.
Six minutes, free, and you see your score across all nine Keys straight away.
- 6founder exits guided
- $230Mcombined exit value
- 150+IT services founders coached
- 28 yearsin IT professional services
If this sounds like your firm, you are in the right place.
Every escalation still lands on your desk.
Your senior people are capable, yet the hard calls keep finding their way back to you.
Utilisation looks healthy. EBIT does not.
Busy consultants, full timesheets, and a margin that never seems to move.
You win on relationships, then lose on scale.
Clients love your team, but the global consultancies keep taking the bigger programs.
Shareholder valuethe centre of every Key
The Loading Growth Wheel
Nine Keys, one goal: a firm that is worth more and depends less on you. Select a Key to see what it covers.
Key 1 of 9
Loading Growth
Growing shareholder value: the plan, the numbers and the founder dependency that decide what your firm is worth.
Signature tool: The 90 Day Sprint
One mountain, three stages.
Choose the stage that matches the size of your firm today. Every stage runs on the Nine Keys and the 90 Day Sprint.
Stage 2
Everest Ascent
10 to 40 staff. Where most SI founders start.
Regular group sessions plus one to one time with Ian, focused on margin, leadership depth and the shift from operator to owner.
Pricing on the call
Talk to Ian about AscentStage 3
Everest Summit
40 to 200 staff
More frequent one to one coaching for firms aiming at market leadership, a leadership bench and an exit on their terms.
Pricing on the call
Explore SummitFounders who stopped being the bottleneck.
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Ian gave us a framework for the business instead of a to do list for the founder.
Mark FrearGM, Chrome Consulting, an Atturra company
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The coaching paid for itself in the first quarter through pricing alone.
Mehrab EbadiFounder, FAIR Consulting Group
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Straight talk from someone who has actually sold an IT services firm.
David LockieDirector and CEO, Mojo Soup
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Clear frameworks, honest feedback, and a coach who has done it.
Richard HuntCEO and Founder, Turnkey Consulting
Ian Markram
I built and sold an IT services firm, and for the last decade I have coached founders of IT services and systems integrator firms who compete with the global consultancies every week. Six of them have exited, for a combined $230M. The Nine Keys, the EBIT Dial and the 90 Day Sprint are the tools that came out of that work.
All eight founders on camera, plus seventeen written recommendations
Trusted by founders of IT services and SI firms around the world
Learn from founders who have already made the climb.
Episode 22: No exit plan? What most IT founders miss
IT Mastermind Talks
Founders and the specialists who helped them, from start to exit. Every episode has the full video, a summary, key insights and a clean transcript, organised by Key.
Browse all episodesLatest guides
Growing IP
The difference between a service and a productised offeringLoading Clients
Client retention in IT services: a delivery problem, not a sales problemLoading Sales
The EBIT metric your accountant is not trackingGrowing Leaders
The one hire that changes everything in an IT services firm
Ian Markram
The Leveraged Consultancy
How IT services and systems integrator founders win the AI era
The book
Professional services does not go headless. It goes leveraged.
Ten years of coaching IT services and SI founders, organised around the Nine Keys. Senior people keep the judgement and the client relationships. AI and offshore specialists carry repeatable delivery. A platform runs the day to day. Each chapter ends with a workbook exercise you can run with your leadership team the same week.
Ian challenged us at every step. Since working with him our business has not gone up one level, it has gone up several.Mark Powditch, MB Test Partners
Find the Key that is holding your firm back.
Six minutes, nine Keys and a personalised score showing where your next lift in margin and value will come from.
Book a strategy call
Forty five minutes with Ian. You bring your numbers and leave with the one lever to pull first.
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